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The Platinum Age Of Drum 'n' Bass?
Wednesday 31st October 2012 | Ben
Drum & Bass: Are We In The Platinum Age?
Exactly when the Golden Age of drum ‘n’ bass and jungle music actually occurred is a contentious issue. Some might point to the early days, when jungle emerged from the shadows of hardcore, ragga and dub, as a time of pure musical innovation and unself-conscious enjoyment. Others may revel in the darkness and explosive energy of the Virus- and Prototype-inspired evolution of the genre in the late ‘90s and early 2000’s.
For many, the large swathe of classic D&B productions from the mid-‘noughties’, and the sheer variety of styles and nationwide scenes emerging at that time, would mark that out as the era when drum ‘n’ bass truly arrived, fusing the essentially underground nature of British rave culture with an undeniable sense of fun and greater accessibility.
But if it’s difficult, or even somewhat futile, to try and pin down the moment at which both drum ‘n’ bass production and nightlife were at their peak, it is fairly safe to assume that it’s in the past. So where does that leave the music now, nearly 2 decades after its inception? Well, although the production output and set-lists of today’s DJs might not be as littered with recognisable classics as they once were, that’s certainly not to say that D&B is not in as rude health as ever. If anything, the stylistic variety has diversified even further, with a barrage of up-and-coming labels supplementing, and often outshining, the long-established stalwarts of the scene.
The music’s tentative flirting with the mainstream market, which has been a persistent if somewhat undesired by-product of its underground popularity from the outset, has been furthered in recent years by the likes of DJ Fresh, Sub Focus and, even, Andy C. Meanwhile, artists like Icicle, Rockwell, Phace & Misanthrop and Clarity have pioneered a new era of dark, minimal, industrial beats and bass which is both futuristic yet rooted in simplistic origins. Drum ‘n’ bass’ polarising tendencies are still very much at its centre.
Whereas previously the terms ‘jump-up’, ‘classic’, ‘liquid’, ‘anthem’ and ‘techy’ were to some extent interchangeable and not always mutually exclusive, nowadays the categories can be reduced to just ‘good’ or ‘bad’ drum ‘n’ bass, and it’s the job of the DJs, promoters and ravers to separate the wheat from the chaff. The ‘Golden’ days of guaranteed enjoyment at a D&B rave are potentially over. And if there was one word that best describes the approach that seems to be taken by all involved in today’s ‘Platinum Era’, it would be: discerning.
By: Ben Macmillan
